Aaaaaaaaaand...the next chapter. :)
Remember how I thought that Amestris couldn't be that big? Well, I was wrong. I was more than a little wrong. I guess I just thought that since its size was nothing in comparison to Xing, it must've been small. Even if it was several times smaller than Xing, it was still big.
"Good luck," Shiloh had said, "Try not to get lost." I laughed at that sentiment. There was no way that I was not going to get lost in Amestris. What had I been thinking!? This place was foreign to be, just as foreign as it was for Ling! What had made me think that I would be able to navigate Amestris any better than he could?
Well, it didn't matter any more. I was already in Amestris, and I wasn't about to turn around and head back through that desert. Not to mention I still had to find Ling. When I thought of seeing him again, I found a bit more of the courage I needed to push on through the busy streets of Amestris.
"Fresh bread! Fresh bread here!" People were shouting at me from ever which direction, trying to get me to buy something and anything in their stands. It was overwhelming, but I walked on. That's when an idea came to me. Maybe if I found this Mustang fellow that I had a letter for, he would know about Ling. There aren't that many Xingese people in Amestris—due to the desert—so if anyone had seen him, they would probably remember. It was a faint glimmer of hope, but it was all I had.
The only problem was that I had to find Mustang, then. Maybe it wasn't that great of an idea. I didn't see any reason to go off searching for another person. Still, Mustang was the only person I was remotely familiar with. By 'familiar' I mean I knew his name. That was all I had to ride on right then.
As I was thinking, a large group of men in uniforms rushed past me. "What the…" I asked myself. One of them rudely slammed into me and I almost lost my balance. They were shouting and looked to be in a hurry.
"Hey, watch it!" I yelled. Someone tapped my shoulder.
"Those men are military. You shouldn't shout," she said in a hushed voice. I stared at her and frowned. The military holding such status in this country didn't bode well for my visit. I just nodded and turned away.
I sighed and ducked into a nearby alleyway. The sheer amount of people milling about the streets was starting to get to me. Once inside the alley, I noticed that it wasn't nearly as dark as I'd expected it to be. It was nearly sunset, so it should have been a bit hard to see. There was a faint red light cast across the wall in front of me. Confused, I looked to my left. I gasped.
There, right on the floor, was a glowing symbol. Bright red light flooded the alleyway, and it seemed to get brighter by the second. I knelt down beside it and reached forward. It didn't cross my mind that I might be in danger by doing so, but I touched the symbol. It grew brighter, almost blindingly, when I touched it. I withdrew my hand and it dimmed again. "Strange," I muttered. I wasn't sure whether this sort of thing was normal for Amestris, but it wasn't something I saw in Xing everyday, (especially not in random alleys). The closest thing to it was Alkahestry, and only practiced people could use it.
"Excuse me, Miss." The deep voice forced me to look up. I was not expecting to see a man like him looming over me. I gulped.
"Hello," I squeaked. I really didn't like him. As soon as I saw the sparkles that seemed to float around him, I felt like running away. His mere presence was very unnerving.
"If you would move to the side, I would very much appreciate it," he said, the little curl on his head bouncing. I think he smiled, but it was hard to tell behind his mustache.
I inched away and watched as he stamped out the glowing red light. I felt a little empty, but I wasn't sure why. "What did you do?" I asked.
"I broke the circle," he said. It was similar to Alkahestry, so I somewhat understood.
"It was nice seeing you, but I'm in a rush," he said. With that, he saluted me and turned the corner of the alleyway.
"Wait!" I yelled. He was military—I could tell from his uniform—so certainly these circles were of some importance to the organization. Out of curiosity, I followed him. I scaled the wall beside me, grabbing onto whatever semblance of handholds I could find, and pulled myself onto the roof.
The roofs in Amestris aren't nearly as slanted as in Xing, and I'd run on Xing rooftops many a time. This was an easy obstacle to jump over. I followed alongside the soldier that I'd met, leaping from building to building and occasionally hiding myself from other soldiers. I wasn't really sure why I hid. I guess it was just a habit.
Let me just say this: I was not expecting it when a giant wall of ice rocketed towards me seemingly out of nowhere. The soldier I'd been following had diverted the wall of ice, which I hadn't even seen coming, with his bare fists! Unfortunately for me, the only direction that I could jump to avoid the ice was directly towards the soldiers below. I couldn't do anything but take that chance. I leapt.
"Watch out!" I yelled. The guy who I was falling towards looked up just in time to see me falling from the sky. I landed directly on top of him. Pain coursed through me, originating in my shoulder.
"What the hell?" gasped the guy below me.
I sat up, still on top of him, and clutched my shoulder. I stared at it and grimaced. Dislocated. "I recognize you. You're the one from the alley," said the soldier I'd been following. I looked up at him and anger rose immediately.
"What kind of maniac directs a giant wall of ice towards houses? What was going through your head?" I shouted.
"Will you get off of me!?" yelled the guy I was on top of.
"And you!" I growled, looking down at him, "Why are you so small? If you'd been taller, you would have broken my fall better! My shoulder is dislocated now because of your stunted growth, you midget!"
"Oh no," said someone else. I looked up to see a guy in a giant suit of armor staring at me, "You shouldn't have said that. You really…really shouldn't have."
I'd lost my temper, but that was to be understood, wasn't it? I mean, I was in an extraordinary amount of pain. Still, I'd gone a little too far. I stood up and grabbed my arm.
I clenched my teeth and, bracing myself, popped my shoulder back into place. I screamed. It was all I could do not to pass out, and I was now breathing heavily and sweating. "Who'd you call so tiny you can't see him without a magnifying glass?" growled a voice. I looked up to see the guy, in his entire blonde, braided glory, standing near me. A tangible evil aura was seething around him.
"What?" I asked in between bouts of pain.
"What, you say? What!? Lemme at 'er!" he shouted. He pounced towards me and nearly grabbed onto my arm before the armored guy snatched the little guy up.
"Ed, this isn't the time! McDougal is going to get away!" the huge metallic guy scolded.
"I don't care! She called me little!" he yelled. He glared at me and pointed, "I'll have you know that I'm still growing! Still growing!"
"Miss, what are you doing here?" asked the other guy, "It's dangerous."
"Clearly," I deadpanned.
"Come on, Ed!" said the knight-like man, "We've got to catch up!"
"Wait! I'm not done with her yet!" the small guy, Ed, shouted, "Alphonse, you traitor!"
They rounded the corner of the street. "Mustang sure has his hands full with those two," said the guy, "Oh, by the way, I'm Armstrong. Lieutenant Armstrong."
"Did you say Mustang?" I practically shouted.
"No, I'm Armstrong," he said, pointing to himself. I shook my head exasperatedly.
"You said Mustang! Who's Mustang? Can you take me to him?" I asked.
"He's around here somewhere…but you'll have to wait to speak with him until after these shenanigans are over," said Armstrong, "This is really a mess. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and destroy some more transmutation circles."
"Wait, I've a message for Mustang!" I yelled after him as he ran.
"Just ask for the Flame Alchemist!" Armstrong shouted over his shoulder. And so I was left, sitting in the street, with a painful shoulder and a lot of questions. I couldn't believe my luck. I'd found him already…this Flame Alchemist character. If I could find him this easily, it wouldn't be long before I found Ling as well.
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